Streaming TV

You can now get a Roku streaming player with 4K resolution for less than $50. Roku Premiere lands at just $39, and the Premiere+ (an exclusive at Walmart) adds a voice remote for just $10 more. Both work great and don't break the bank.

The Good

The Bad

Wifi limited to 802.11n (aka Wifi 4)

Wireless only — no ethernet port

So good, so inexpensive

Roku Premiere: What I like

The story of the Roku Premiere pretty much starts and ends with the price. The Premiere is a mere $39. The Premiere+ — again, which is exclusive to Walmart and is the model I'm reviewing here — comes in at $49. The only real differences between the two are that Premiere+ comes with a voice remote, and it has a shortcut on the remote to Vudu — which is owned by Walmart.

It's the same Roku experience you've come to know and love.

Otherwise, we're looking at the same specs here. 4K resolution. Wifi 4, which until early October 2018 had been known as 802.11n. Dolby Atmos support for Audio. All the usual caveats apply of course. To take advantage of 4K streaming, you'll need a 4K-capable television. To use Dolby Atmos, you'll need a speaker setup that uses Atmos.

Assuming you've handled all that, what you end up with is your usual rock-solid Roku experience. Same user interface. Same menus. Same setup process. In fact, sign in with an existing Roku login and it'll automatically add all your channels. (You'll still have to sign back in, though.)

Do you need Wifi 5 to properly stream 4K video? Not necessarily. It's going to depend on the strength of your wireless network as much as anything. So I can't tell you if you're going to need to spend $59 to get the Streaming Stick+ instead of Roku Premiere. I can't tell you if $39 for the Premiere will be good enough. It might well be.

I had occasional hiccups streaming 4K video. Nothing consistent, and nothing I wouldn't call ordinary hiccups in my home — I've got a lot of people streaming a lot of things a lot of the time. (Kids, ya know.)

The only other compliant would be that because of the form factor of the Premiere+ (it's what I call a "mini box"), there's no Ethernet port. Just HDMI, and power. So be it.

It's just a great box

Roku Premiere: The bottom line

4.5out of 5

Roku Premiere (and Premiere+, too) is a simple product. It's 4K video, with HDR and Dolby Atmos, tucked into a small box. I wouldn't go so far to say it's hobbled by only having Wifi 4, but that's definitely a limiting factor when it comes to network performance.

Maybe that'll be a problem for you. Or maybe it won't.

What most certainly won't be an issue is the Roku end of things. It's the same excellent experience you'll find in every other Roku device. And it's going to get better.

Phil Nickinson

Phil is the father of two beautiful girls and is the Dad behind Modern Dad. Before that he spent seven years at the helm of Android Central. Before that he spent a decade in a newsroom of a two-time Pulitzer Prize-finalist newspaper. Before that — well, we don't talk much about those days.